ONE of Scotland's oldest ferries swept past Inverclyde on her final journey this morning. 

MV Hebridean Isles is retiring after almost 40 years of service.

She left Stornoway for the final time on Sunday en route to Glasgow, and was spotted by many well-wishers and ferry fans as she sailed along the Firth of Clyde for the last time. 

The vessel originally served on the routes linking Skye with North Uist and Harris, but was designed so she could serve on routes all over the Caledonian MacBrayne network - and did exactly that.

She was moved to the Kennacraig-Islay service in 2001, and also had spells operating between Ardrossan and Brodick, Ullapool and Stornoway, and even on a handful of occasions between Wemyss Bay and Rothesay. 

She also had several spells providing overhaul relief cover on the Northlink route between Scrabster in Caithness and Stromness in Orkney.

MV Hebridean Isles was built at the Cochrane shipyard in Selby, North Yorkshire, and launched on the River Ouse in July 1985. 

She was the first Caledonian MacBrayne vessel to be built outside Scotland. 

Weighing in at 1,300 tonnes, she cost £5.5 million and ferried thousands of passengers across Scotland over the last 39 years.